Chapter 6: Danielle Meets Queen Marie

As soon as Danielle was finished and exited the room with the bath, Pierre led her to the parlor where le Pieu was waiting.

Le Pieu looked Danielle over and said, “Danielle, you look so much better. Now, I believe, you are presentable for a meeting with the Queen. Please have a seat. Pierre, please pour some wine for Mademoiselle de Barbarac.”

Danielle politely accepted the wine and, in spite of her intense dislike for le Pieu, forced herself to be pleasant and to make small talk.

Having no idea how long a wait it might be, le Pieu soon excused himself and ordered Pierre to stay with Danielle until the royal guard arrived.

Danielle waited with some trepidation. Still she was glad be getting away from le Pieu, if only for a little while. Whatever awaited her, it could not be worse than her fate with le Pieu.

When the royal guard arrived they were very professional and treated Danielle like a lady. If they had any reservations about her station or appearance, they didn’t show it. After they had escorted her to the most exquisite carriage she had ever ridden in, Danielle felt much better about her fate.

At Hautefort, the sight of a commoner departing the Queen’s carriage and being escorted to the royal gardens by members of the royal guard caused quite a commotion amongst the courtiers. There was a flurry of questions and opinions about what could be happening.

Upon being introduced to the Queen, Danielle curtsied very low and said, “Your Majesty.”

“Please sit and join me for tea,” the Queen replied, showing just a slight grimace at Danielle’s appearance. As soon as Danielle was seated, she said, “Jeanne, please pour Mademoiselle de Barbarac some tea.” Queen Marie had been observing Danielle since she first arrived. Danielle carried herself well but, even for a servant, her appearance was rather unseemly for a meeting with royalty.

Danielle waited for the Queen to sip some tea and then did the same. Noticing Danielle’s hand and face, the Queen asked, “How did you get the scratches on your hands and face?”

“I was running through underbrush in the forest, Your Majesty.”

“Whatever possessed you to do that?”

Danielle looked at Queen Marie before answering. Deciding to trust the Queen, she replied, “I was running through the forest at night in an attempt to escape Monsieur le Pieu who was using dogs to track me, Your Majesty.”

With encouragement from the Queen, Danielle told about the events starting from the time le Pieu’s guardsmen grabbed her and locked her in the armored carriage. Most of the time, Queen Marie listened silently, with just a few comments. When Danielle told how she was finally caught by the dogs and men—in sight of the river, the Queen asked, “You traveled across that entire forest at night, by yourself. You must be a very brave young lady. Were you not afraid?”

“Your Majesty, I was terrified. It was dark and shadowy, and I had never been in that forest before. I didn’t know what to expect or how long it might take to cross it. However, I was even more frightened of what might happen if I didn’t escape from Monsieur le Pieu.”

“So then what happened?” Queen Marie asked.

“They took me back to the Château Beynac. It was daylight when we got back. Monsieur le Pieu put me in chains and locked me in a room that was empty except for one dirty blanket. After he received the letter from Comte de Forez, he allowed me to take a bath and gave me these clothes since my dress was dirty and torn, and I was filthy from head to toe. Your Majesty, I know I should have been more presentable, but under the conditions, the clothes I was given to wear and no brush for my hair, I did the best I could.”

Queen Marie was aghast at what had happened to Danielle and said, “Please don’t be concerned about your appearance, I am only disturbed over how you have been treated.”

“I appreciate that, Your Majesty, but, since he has not really harmed me, being abducted by Monsieur le Pieu was not the worst day of my life. The worst day was the day my father died. The only thing I can imagine worse than that would be if I am to be returned to Monsieur le Pieu. I would rather die than to be returned to him.”

“You will not be returning to le Pieu!” Queen Marie stated emphatically. “If you wish, you may stay at the castle as my guest.”

Danielle was just on the verge of crying before composing herself. Still a couple of tears ran down her face. “My goodness child, what is the matter,” the Queen asked sympathetically as she handed Danielle her handkerchief.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I’m all right now. Of course I want to stay here. I don’t know how I can pay you or express my gratitude enough for what you are doing for me. It’s just that I have been so afraid that I might be sent back to Monsieur le Pieu and I was so relieved when you told me I would not be sent back.”

“Danielle, you are my guest. I couldn’t accept any payment. Knowing that you are out of harm’s way is compensation enough—especially if you will give me a little smile.”

Danielle’s eyes lit up and for the first time that day she gave a little smile. Noticing the change, Queen Marie thought to herself, “This girl can sparkle.”

Noticing Danielle glancing at the tray of pastries and sandwiches that had been sitting untouched since her meeting with Comte de Forez, the Queen asked, “Danielle when did you last eat?”

“This morning, while waiting for the royal guard, Monsieur le Pieu gave me a glass of wine. Before that, he fed me yesterday afternoon.”

“Goodness, you must be starving. Moving the tray close to Danielle, she said, “Please have something to eat.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Danielle replied as she took one of the sandwiches.

Danielle just held the sandwich until the Queen said, “Danielle, I have already eaten and you don’t need to worry about protocol when there is just the two of us, so go ahead and eat.”

“What was the reason that Baroness de Ghent turned you into a servant and, although I am appalled, have you any idea why she would sell you to le Pieu?

“Your Majesty, since I was raised by my father, I was a tomboy. The very first time the baroness saw me I had mud on my dress. So to her I was just a common little ruffian and it made sense to her that I should be a servant. Of course, I was only eight years old, so what could I do about it? As for your other question, I am not sure I can tell you without sounding critical and self-serving.”

“Don’t be concerned about that. I really need to know.”

“Your Majesty, for a long time, Rodmilla’s primary goal has been for Marguerite to become queen. She has been training Marguerite with that one purpose in mind. There is not much she would not do to achieve that objective, including to disparaging anyone she considers competition. Love is not important. Prince Henry could be a buffoon, and she would still do everything in her power to arrange for Marguerite to marry the Prince.

“When the baroness learned that Prince Henry, as Marguerite said, fell all over himself over some comtesse, which is how I identified myself to the Prince, her first words were, ‘We will find out who she is and bury her.’ After she found out it was me, she locked me in a cellar. At the masque she was expecting that the Prince would choose Marguerite for his bride. When I showed up at the masque and it appeared that Prince Henry would choose me, it had to be too much—she could not allow my appearance at the masque to interfere with her years of planning.

“Part of the reason she sold me to Monsieur le Pieu was to reacquire items she had sold from the manoir so as to not look like paupers when you and the King arrived. But, even more, it was so that I would not be around to distract the Prince.

“Your Majesty, I know you didn’t ask and I don’t wish to be presumptuous but, regarding events since my father’s death, with your permission, I have something to say. I ask that you listen, and then I promise that I will not ever bring it up again.”

“What is it?” Queen Marie asked.

“My father was the proprietor of the Manoir de Barbarac. It does not see reasonable that his wife of only a few days should have greater claim to his property than that of his own daughter. How could that be a just entitlement? Certainly, that would not have been my father’s intent.

“Of course, I was only a young child and no one defended my entitlement, so Baroness de Ghent was able to claim the manoir by default. Still, I maintain that my stepmother’s obligation should have been to hold Manoir de Barbarac for me in trust until I became of age. In any event, I was not her property; therefore, I don’t believe her sale of me to Monsieur le Pieu is valid and, even if it was, Your Majesty’s willingness to rescue me indicates that you also agree that it was an injustice.”

Impressed with Danielle’s presentation of the facts, the Queen replied, “Signore da Vinci told me you have a sense of justice. Certainly you present a strong case and you state it well. Now I have heard from others but I would like to hear from you. Why did you tell Henry that your name was Comtesse Nicole de Lancret?”

“I welcome the opportunity to explain, Your Majesty. You see, to pay her taxes, the baroness sold one of her servants, Maurice. He had been in the employment of my father since before I was born, and I consider him family. I had been looking for some way to rescue him. In a chance meeting with your son, and as a result of his generosity, I acquired twenty gold francs. I knew no one would believe a servant with twenty gold francs, plus how would I get into Hauteford? So of necessity, I dressed as a courtier. I did not expect to meet the Prince there and as soon as Maurice was released I tried to leave, but Prince Henry wouldn’t leave me alone. I didn’t wish to deceive him, but I didn’t dare tell him the truth. When he insisted on a name, any name, my mother’s name popped into my head. I know it may be splitting hairs, but to keep from telling a lie I said, the only name to leave you with is Comtesse Nicole de Lancret.” If you hadn’t called out his name, I’m not sure I would have ever escaped.